RE: OT: Reasons to NOT write an Oracle book
From: Iggy Fernandez <iggy_fernandez_at_hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2014 19:48:46 -0700
Message-ID: <BLU179-W30A7EB01821E356193AA35EBA20_at_phx.gbl>
Found it at http://tomwoods.com/blog/interested-in-publishing-here-are-my-experiences/. Not all applies to IT books though. Also he said that the royalty rate applied to the list price. My contracts specified net receipts, not the list price. So if the list price is $40, the net receipts are $20, and the author's royalty is $2 which has to be shared by the co-authors.
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2014 19:48:46 -0700
Message-ID: <BLU179-W30A7EB01821E356193AA35EBA20_at_phx.gbl>
Found it at http://tomwoods.com/blog/interested-in-publishing-here-are-my-experiences/. Not all applies to IT books though. Also he said that the royalty rate applied to the list price. My contracts specified net receipts, not the list price. So if the list price is $40, the net receipts are $20, and the author's royalty is $2 which has to be shared by the co-authors.
To summarize, the cons are:Minimum-wage exerciseCringe-worthy reviewsPublisher puts schedule over qualityAnd the pros are:Mom will be proudAlternatives:Blog e.g. Richard FooteSelf-publish
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2014 15:59:06 -0500
Subject: Re: OT: Reasons to NOT write an Oracle book
From: post.ethan_at_gmail.com
To: fuzzy.graybeard_at_gmail.com
CC: oracle-l_at_freelists.org
Tom Woods (not Kyte :) had an excellence discussion lately on the economics of writing books. No interest here in writing a book but the discussion was very interesting to me. Google Tom Woods Show Archives to find it.
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 2:39 PM, Hans Forbrich <fuzzy.graybeard_at_gmail.com> wrote:
There are 2 basic reasons TO write a
book
1) Actually learn what is being discussed
2) Marketing value
Other than that, it is a pile of work, and few people set their
own expectations correctly.
/Hans
On 06/10/2014 10:59 AM, Iggy Fernandez wrote:
re: write
because they like it. More like they did not realize how much
effort was involved, how few copies would sell, how
extensively their book would be pirated, how little they would
earn in royalties, how hurtful the reviews can be, that the
schedule is what matters most to the publisher, etc. At least
that's what I did not realize. My advice to all those who ask
me how to become an author is "don't."
But if there's anybody who have read all my advice and are
still want to write a technical book, feel free to contact me
and I'll guide you through the process.
Iggy
Date: Mon, 6 Oct 2014 11:58:18 -0400
Subject: Re: OT: Reasons to NOT write an Oracle book
From: oracledbaquestions_at_gmail.com
To: iggy_fernandez_at_hotmail.com
CC: oracle-l_at_freelists.org
I think most authors are consultants. The
returns come from the marketing people get for writing the
books. I have been reading alot of novelist author blogs
the last few years for fun. Authors in general don't make
much money. Most work full time and write because they
like it. I get the vibe that many if not the majority may
earn less than minimum wage on their publishing. One
interesting tidbit from some author blogs is that there
were number of cases of 'business type' books shooting to
the top of the New York Times bestseller list than
disappearing. Apparently consultants would pay a service
to buy their books so they could use it for marketing. NYT
bestseller list had to change how they calculate these
kinds of bestsellers. It worked with niche books like this
due to the low volume of sales. Too bad there isn't a
technical book bestseller list... if there were we could
team up, copy and paste stuff from the docs, pay service
to get us to #1 and then raise our rates?
My understanding is that the top 3 books on the NY
Times bestseller list earn more than the rest of the
bestseller list combined and the bestseller list out
earns the next 3 million books combined.
On Mon, Oct 6, 2014 at 10:28
AM, Iggy Fernandez <iggy_fernandez_at_hotmail.com>
wrote:
Dear list,
I've revising my beginner DBA book for 12c and
can' t help thinking about the reasons to NOT
write a book. Here are a few.
It's not worth the effort. The market is
saturated with books; so much information is
available online that nobody buys many books
nowadays; your book will be pirated on the
day it is published; it will be obsolete
very quickly; prices are low unlike college
textbooks and much lower in emerging
markets; the royalty is 10% of the wholesale
price--not the list price--and has to be
shared by all the co-authors. You'll be
lucky if your book sells 5000 copies over a
five-year period. Assuming that the list
price is $40 and the wholesale price is $20
and that you have one co-author, and that
you spent 500 hours writing and researching,
you are literally getting paid minimum wage
for your effort. Writer beware.
You will make terrible mistakes that will
haunt you for ever. In my case, I made a
horrible mistake on page 22 of my book that
was soon discovered by a beginner who was
testing every line of code for himself.
Some of the reviews will make you cringe.
You will wish that you had reviewers BEFORE
you finished the book, not after the book
was printed.
To you work and family commitments come
first but, to the publisher, the book comes
first. To
you quality is everything but, to the
publisher, the schedule is more important
and I quote "It is
better to go to market first with a good
enough book than to be months late with a
perfect book. A successful good enough
book can be improved in a second edition.
A failed perfect book is simply a failure.
Schedule matters to your publisher.
Variable pay is the norm. Missed quarterly
and yearly targets can cost your editor
and others whom you work with hundreds,
even a few thousands of dollars. Those
same missed targets hurt the business
too."
On the plus side, you can send a copy to your
mom and she will show it to all her friends.
That off my chest, I would appreciate any
help in reviewing the first drafts so that I can
put out a better book. Comments on accuracy as
well as clarity and readability would be very
welcome. I will post the finished chapters to
Google Docs so that anybody can make comments
inline. I will be very grateful for help and
will acknowledge all those who helped in the
preface. Please let me know if you can help.
Kindest regards,
Iggy
-- http://www.freelists.org/webpage/oracle-lReceived on Tue Oct 07 2014 - 04:48:46 CEST